THE OPENING TIP Texas Tech is coming off a 69-64 win over North Texas last Wednesday at the United Spirit Arena. Stephen F. Austin enters the contest after a 66-61 loss at San Diego last Monday. Texas Tech topped Stephen F. Austin last season in Lubbock, 70-58. The game is being televised by the Texas Tech Sports Network and locally on KAMC-TV 28. It is also available on FSN Southwest, ESPN Full Court and ESPN3.com. Brian Jensen (Play-By-Play) and John Harris (Analyst) are calling the action.

CROCKETT RETURNSAfter missing the first two exhibition games and the season opener, Texas Tech sophomore Jaye Crockett came off the bench to hit his first three shots of the game in the first half against North Texas. Crockett was the first player off the bench for the Red Raiders to start the first and the second half. Crockett finished the game with nine points and nine rebounds.

FROM THREEOne game removed from shooting better than 58 percent from the 3-point line, the Red Raiders hit just 18.2 percent against North Texas and went 0-for-7 in the second half. For the season, the Red Raiders are 12 of 30 from beyond the arc (40 percent). Ty Nurse leads the way, hitting on six of 14 attempts (42.9 percent) from 3-point range.

NURSE STEPS UPFor the second consecutive game, Ty Nurse came up big offensively, this time it came from two free throws with less than 30 second remaining to give the Red Raiders a three-point lead over North Texas, 67-64. Javarez Willis then added a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 69-65 to seal the victory. Ty Nurse is the only Red Raider to score in double figures in consecutive games. He had 29 in the opener against Troy and added 15 against North Texas.

OLD FRIENDSTexas Tech freshman Toddrick Gotcher reunited with his Garland Lakeview Centennial High School teammate on Wednesday - North Texas' Chris Jones. Gotcher played the entire game for the Red Raiders, collecting 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block, one steal and committing just one turnover. His high school teammate, Jones, finished the night with 31 points in 34 minutes for North Texas.

PACKING THE STANDSWednesday's announced attendance was 8,614. Through two games, the Red Raiders are averaging 9,349 fans a game. Last season, Texas Tech averaged 8,513 fans a game. In the season opener against Troy, 10,088 fans packed the United Spirit Arena. It eclipses last year's season opener, when the Red Raiders had 9,063 on hand for Texas Tech's 86-67 win over Louisiana-Monroe. It is the largest crowd for a season opener since Nov. 19, 2004, when 10,296 saw the Red Raiders top UNC-Ashville, 119-55. It also was larger than any crowd last season. Nov. 11th's crowd of 10,088 is the largest home crowd for a Texas Tech basketball game since Feb. 20, 2010, when the Red Raiders hosted Texas in front of 12,481.

RED RAIDERS BEGIN 86TH SEASONTexas Tech opened its 86th season of play Nov. 11 with a 90-85 win over Troy. The Red Raiders are 60-26 in season openers. Texas Tech has won 12 straight season openers. The last time the Red Raiders lost a season opener was No. 19, 1999, when Texas Tech fell to Indiana, 68-60, in the inaugural game in the United Spirit Arena.

GILLISPIE IN SEASON OPENERSAs a head coach, Billy Gillispie is 7-1 in season openers -- UTEP (2-0), Texas A&M (3-0), Kentucky (1-1) and Texas Tech (1-0).

SHOOTING FOR AVERAGEOverall, the Red Raiders shot 61.1 percent from the field (33 of 54) against Troy in the opener, which eclipses the highest percentage of any game last season. The highest percentage last season was 58.8 percent (30-of-51) against Delaware State on Jan. 4. It is the best performance by Texas Tech from the field since the Red Raiders connected on 36 of 58 shots from the field (62.1 percent) against Eastern Kentucky on Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 22, 2008.

MEMORABLE DEBUTTy Nurse's 29 points against Troy is the most by a Red Raider since Mike Singletary had 33 against Iowa State on Jan. 26 last season. It is also the most points in a season opener by a Texas Tech player since Curtis Marshall had 30 against UNC-Ashville in 2004 and Andy Ellis had 30 against Indiana in 1999. It is also the most points in a newcomer debut in the Red Raider Big 12 Era.

FROM THE LINETexas Tech shot 92 percent from the free throw line (23 of 25) against North Texas. It is the highest output since connecting on 23 of 24 last season against TCU (95.8 percent). The Red Raiders connected on nine consecutive free throws over the final 3:04 to secure the victory. For the season, Texas Tech is 37-of-49 from the line (75.5 percent). Last season, the Red Raiders were 72.9 percent from the charity stripe.

BALL CONTROLTexas Tech averaged 29 turnovers in two exhibitions games and have reduced that number to 19.5 through the first two games of the season.

A CLASS OF ONERobert Lewandowski is the lone senior on the squad this season and one of just three returning players from last year's team. He has played in 96 career games. Last season Lewandowski chipped in 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds. He had eight points, seven rebounds and one assist.

TWO SOPHOMORES RETURNSophomores Jaye Crockett and Javarez Willis are the other two returning players from last year's squad. Crockett played in all 32 games last season, contributing 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds as a freshman. Willis saw action in 27 games last season, chipping in 3.6 points and 1.5 assists. Willis made an impact against Troy in the opener, chipping in 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Crockett sat out the opener due to injury.

NEW FACES ABOUNDThe Red Raiders have a complete new look for the new season, as Billy Gillispie and his staff have completed a roster complete with 12 new faces to go along with the three returners. The newcomers include eight freshmen, one sophomore and three juniors.

LAST TIME OUTTy Nurse scored 29 points to lead Texas Tech over Troy, 90-85, on Friday night, giving Billy Gillispie his first win after two years away from coaching. Nurse hit 6 of 9 3-pointers and was 9 of 13 from the field. The Trojans tied it at 56 with about 13 minutes remaining, but Tech used an 11-3 run to go up 67-59. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Nurse and Javarez Willis put the Red Raiders up 75-67 with about seven minutes left. The Trojans pulled within 88-85 late, but a dunk by Robert Lewandowski with less than 20 seconds in the game sealed the win for Texas Tech (1-0). Will Weathers scored 24 points to lead Troy (0-1).